Seconds after I retweeted Woj on this news, someone tweeted at me the perfect analogy here:

Hurrah for getting something for nothing. It’s not that the deal is bad. It’s good. It’s just not the one we wanted and it creates an easy scenario for mockery from the skeptics of the world (not me this time). They will never forget the back story here.

Yes, the Bucks traded Tobias Harris, a young, former first round pick with great potential, for Redick and now they are getting just two second round picks for Redick. It’s a step back in that regard. But what was the front office supposed to do instead? Hang each of their heads and let Redick walk because they knew they weren’t going to be able to get the value of Harris back?

Getting the picks is so much better than not getting the picks. Second round picks don’t often pan out, but they do provide for some flexibility and at least are some kind of an asset, which is better than no kind of asset, which is what Milwaukee had with Redick leaving.

We’re all probably a bit disappointed, if only because the football was pulled out right as we approached. Woj’s first tweet simply said there was a three way deal between the three teams. Immediately, hope came blowing out of the skulls of Bucks fans like soda out of a shaken bottle. Then the second tweet came and Bucks fans were left with a headache and a bunch of flat soda.

Get past that. Bledsoe didn’t happen because the Bucks couldn’t make that deal happen. Check out the rosters and you’ll see there isn’t an easy way to make it work for Milwaukee. The Clippers didn’t have a bunch of salaries to unload, something the Bucks could have helped with if they did. Milwaukee didn’t have much leverage here, so they took what they could get.

Tobias Harris is gone and there’s no sense in living in the moment of that trade forever. Most of us didn’t love it then and certainly won’t love it going forward. There were reasons it was made and there are lessons to be learned. All we can do is hope that process has occurred and Milwaukee will be better off in the future.

Though I suppose when the football’s been pulled out so many times before though, it’s a bit difficult to do that.

37 Comments

We can all dwell on the harris trade and its overwhelming let down… but we were about to lose reddick for NOTHING. At least we got something… and this years draft shows how valuable 2’s can be when it comes to moving up. Hammond has two more tools to help right his wrongs. Lets hope he can make something of them.

I have to agree with you. The Bucks were not in a position of power. I would still like to find the thinking behind trading Harris though. The Bucks would make the second round by giving up a potential star? Wow, what a victory that would have been. Reddick had no reason to stay even if things would have gone as planned. Hopefully management will actually learn from their mistakes….

Seems Jennings is all but certainly going to be the starter with this deal falling through. Still really like Wolters as the backup and getting some minutes with Jennings in small ball lineups. Dont sleep on the Jackrabbit!

I don’t think anyone really knows what will happen with Jennings yet. The Bucks clearly aren’t as high on him as Hammond told the media, seeing as they’ve been pursuing both Bledsoe and Teague.

I mean what reasonable person comes out to the media and says “I’ll sign with Milwaukee if they make me ‘the man'”

I mean wtf, anyone who is the man isn’t worried about being the man, they’re worried about contributing and winning. Jennings is a child and is too stupid to realize that Larry Sanders is the closest thing this team has to ‘the man’, not him.

Talk about selfishness and dissing your teammates. If the Bucks resign this guy for a large amount of money there is something terribly wrong with the organization.

He’s in Atlanta 2nite which is interesting, hopefully they can do some sort of sign and trade for Teague but I doubt it. Bucks have missed on every target they’ve set their sights on so far these last few days so I’m guessing they will panic sign someone real quick in the next day or two and then overpay Jennings after that

I’m kind of glad they keep whiffing (aside from Bledsoe) because they may have to default tank. The advantage we may have with getting Teague is that we have his old coach who he started and was successful under…. But I’m not going to get my hopes up.

I’m glad we did salvage something from the Redick-Harris deal. I like draft picks, even in the 2nd round.
I’m getting past the trade of Tobias little by little, but I have to respectfully disagree with Jeremy when he writes that “most of us” didn’t love the trading of Tobias at the time. At least on this blog, it seemed like just about everyone was happy to trade Tobias for J.J.
I don’t remember anyone, including Jeremy or Jon, expressing any disappointment at the trade — maybe there were a couple, but people can check the archives below.
I felt really lonely last winter here at Bucksketball when first I urged the Bucks to play Tobias at least 15 or 20 minutes per game; then pleaded with the Bucks not to trade Tobias; and then cried out in pain when he was traded (again without any consolation at this site from my fellow commenters, and that’s to put it mildly).
So maybe the fans of the Bucks — as well as the management — can learn a lesson from the trade of Tobias. I say this respectfully, and even affectionately, but I do need to vent. Also, I’m going through the same scenario again as the only person at this site who thinks the drafting of Giannis as our #1 is sheer stupidity. It’s not a huge deal, and it is good to have differing opinions, but it is a little lonely from where I’m standing.

Was the Harris trade bad? Yes. Were there other people saying they shouldn’t have done that? Yes. Is Harris for essentially 2 second rounders bad? yes, but not the worst outcome ever. Is Harris EVER goin to be an All-star and at the SF position? No and no. If he was able to make it(which i think is highly doubtful), it wouldn’t be at the SF position, its at the PF position. Will he be a solid starter? Probably. Still to early to tell on Harris people, my goodness. Everybody on this site and others think he is as good as Carmelo or something. Can he score points? Yes, but does he LET UP just as many? Yes. He is no different than jennings in that aspect. Jennings can score but can he play defense? no. Thats why he will never be an all-star and why a lot of people don’t want him. Not necessarily me. Im kind of neutral on him right now

Yes, I agree, it is too early to tell about Tobias Harris. However, he did prove last season, more than once, that he can score 28 points or haul in 15 rebounds. If my memory serves me, he did average with the Magic about 16 points and 6 rebounds. How long will it be until Giannis does anything close to what Tobias has done already? We basically drafted a trendy rumor based mostly on grainy footage.
What else Tobias showed me — at least for now — is that he is a good team player who doesn’t hog the ball. It seemed like he was sincerely trying to fit in with his teammates and work with them — which is much better than my impression of Carmelo, who seems to be black hole who rarely passes the ball out of his abyss, and who may well give up as many points as he makes. Based on my admittedly limited knowledge of Carmelo — including the success of his teams in the playoffs — I would rather take my chances with Tobias.
Finally, I have never read anyone on this site comparing Tobias to Carmelo, at least not during last season. What I did hear were people continually minimalizing Tobias, saying he wasn’t ready to play yet, and might never be ready. Again, the archives would tell the tale. My memory could be somewhat faulty, but I’m concerned that the history of Tobias — at least on this site — is being rewritten inaccurately.
All of this is said on my part — as always — in the spirit of good and honest debate as well as camaraderie among fans devoted to the same team. All of us on this site, or at least the vast majority, are saying this in common: Go Bucks!

Up until the comment about Giannis, I was totally with you. The Bucks will not be able to get a top flight player other than via the draft. You have to take a high upside player at that position. The other option would be to draft a decent player who is as good as he will get….boy the Bucks will go a long way with more mediocre talent.

As the net gain of a confusing and poorly thought out series of transactions beginning with the Magic trade. Why was JJ even brought in? Why not follow the Grizzlies model as a small market team that focuses on talent development. There never seems to be any long term planning which has given us mediocrity.

Well, at least we now know what the plan for the future is. The Bucks will likely be one of the worst teams in basketball next year. The Bucks will probbaly snag some mid level free agents to fill out the squad then stagger to a 20-25 win season. Devon Harris anyone? Our Reward? Hopefully, several draft choices in the 2014 NBA daft.

But the bigger question is … did we have to be here? The amount of club mismanagement is approaching insanity. I dare say moving towards Larry Harris nuttiness.

Let’s take a look at the Hammond era:

The complete WIFFS-

Joe Alexander (the 8th pick) who couldn’t play at all, anywhere.

Wrongly viewing Adrew Bogut as a franchise type player despite his obvious physical problems and very limited offensive game.

Sign Drew Gooden to an astonishing 5 year 35 million dollar contract after 9 other clubs had given up on him. Then 2 years later we completely give up on him. BUT still leave him on the bench to (somehow) play a role in improving locker room morale. The move makes the Bucks look like a league laughingstock.

Signing Stephen Jackson knowing that common sense tells us he would do anything to get traded to a contender. Which he did.

Once Bogut suffered the “HUGE” injury Hammond refuses to accept conventional wisdom and trade him for draft picks and rebuild. Rather we acquire a undersized,athletic and lousy shooting 2 guard witha huge contract along with a young, power forward likely to be a career journeyman. Note- Hammond still decided to acquire Ellis with no control over his contract within slightly over 1 year’s time. Evidentially, still struggling to learn from the Gary Payton debacle.
Ellis then turns down a staggering 12 million dollar plus per year offer from the Bucks to move on elsewhere.

More gems:

Drafts Brandon Jennings who after showing intial promise becomes what wiser GM’s around the league long suspected. Jennings has firmly become a shoot 1st guard who can’t shoot consistantly, is undersized, tends to mope, plays no noticeable defense and thinks he’s an all star. However, has never been seriously considered as an NBA all star by anyone other than himself. Now would like 10 million dollars per year to continue playing with the Bucks. And he might get it.

Fortune arrives:

Bucks draft Tobias Harris AND John Henson. Both show big time potential at the Vegas summer league and beyond. What do the Bucks do? Instead of playing both propects significant, consistant minutes last year neither does and Harris is actually TRADED for a borderline career long journeyman who happens to shoot well if not guarded too heavily.

And ONCE AGAIN, the Bucks take on a contract they have no control over(this time just over 2 months) in return for one of it’s few young, promising prospects.

Immediately JJ Redick makes it clear he has no intentions of returning to Milwaukee and the Bucks manage to get 2 2nd round draft picks in return for him.

Finally, Hammond drafts a 18 year old kid from Greece who’s never played against any competion stiffer than some of the better European high school players. He may pan out … but it will take LOTS of time to find that out.

I could go on but what’s the point? The Bucks are dead for at least a couple of years. But with all the above mentioned steller moves it’s a minor miracle it’s taken this long to hit rock bottom.

The Bucks have whiffed on some, had bad luck on others, and have scored on a few. Its taken the Bucks a lot longer to hit rock bottom because of Kohl but at least now they have and if they tank next year, the future could look very bright with ANYBODY in the top 7

It’s true. If there is anything that could really put the Bucks in the right direction, it is the 2014 Draft. I mean, we have a hard enough time getting big name players through free agency, and now it seems we can’t reach those players through trade either (Bledsoe). Still, the draft is a big risk. Although if we get a high enough pick we can have a more sure idea of what we’re getting, instead of guessing on a player like Giannis. I don’t mind taking that risk as long as it means a possible young core of talented players which could go to the playoffs every year and contend for a CHAMPIONSHIP. A title should be the mindset, not just the playoffs. By adding a bunch of players through free agency or whatever who are good but not great, I just do not see a consistently good, title-contending team emerging from that.

Wow! this is a really interesting overview, and it rings true.
What’s really depressing is that there’s no reason to think that the same kind of blunders won’t continue as long as the Kohl/Hammond regime is in control (not to mention the possibility that Kohl could sell the team and sell-out the fans; what was he doing in Sacramento last season when the Bucks played the Kings, anyway?).
In the case of bad management, no amount of top draft picks is going to save the day. Depressing.

It is easy to rag on the GM for these moves, but remember the contracts he was given were awful. No one could have walked right in and turned things around. Hammonds was able to unload a number of bad contracts to pick up these “mistakes.” He didn’t sign Maggette and Jackson, he traded bad players for them. Also, the draft is a crap shoot and the Bucks need to get luckier than they have. However, picking in the late lottery is not the way to build contenders. Some of these picks seem awful now, but hindsight is 20/20. Some misses, but Henson and Sanders look like keepers, Jennings has been valuable (though I don’t want to pay him big for long-term), and hopefully Giannis works out. Clearly the Tobias trade was awful though. That one could haunt us, but putting up good stats on a bad Orlando team doesn’t make him an all-star. Still, unloading him when we need to build in the draft was wrong.

The point is they DID trade Tobias for this over-rated, one dimensional, boring -ass cracker.
And now they have two second round picks?? That sucks. They could have at least had Bledsoe.
That was in the works. This team not only has no plan, they have no clue. Now they’re in love with Brandon J. again. IDIOTS.

according to some sources, the bucks never had a chance at bledsoe so they just jumped on the backend of the deal and got 2 second rounders. 2 second rounders for Harris isn’t as bad as trading Allen to the Sonics for gary payton. I don’t think its the end of the world

Andrew Wiggins. That’s all I’m thinking about for the next year. I know football is a different sport, but why can’t the Bucks model their franchise after the Packers? Draft, draft, draft some more. Instead it seems like we pick lousy FA’s with bad contracts. It’s so frustrating.

Because the NBA is a 2 round draft with the talent gone after about 10 picks, where as the NFL is seven round with talent all the way through. Its a lot easier to hit on NFL draft picks and hang on and develop guys the larger rosters.

It should be clear to the Bucks that free agency is not the way to go. The only way they can attract talent this way is by overpaying. When Bucks do overpay to bring in talent it will only be 8th seed talent, not building a core to contend. I hope they don’t sign Josh Smith or JR Smith who I think would fall into that category (and Brandon Jennings for that matter). Need to build through the draft and get lucky. Good frontline core needs talent on perimeter. Giannis could be greatly helpful in a couple years. In the meantime they need to bring in some backcourt players to get through this season and maybe the next, and hope they get a great pick in the next draft. I would bring in Devin Harris and Xavier Henry. They would not be expensive and can bridge the gap until better talent can be obtained. Xavier Henry has been a bust, but has never been given a big role. He is still young and was a lottery pick. Bucks need to roll the dice a bit. Keep Gooden, as they have to stay above the salary cap minimum, and then when they are getting better his contract will expire and we will be glad we have the space.

Thankfully the Bucks got something in return for that horrific decision back in FEB. I agree wholeheartedly with the post who questioned Jennings character when he openly spoke about the Bucks and being THE MAN.

Hello Sfisch… I was one of the individuals who pleasingly endorsed the Redick trade. I disagreed with your point of view repeatedly-however, eventually I had no choice but to agree with your outlook on that decision. IT REALLY BURNS- HURTS- makes me sorrowful now !!!
To contemplate a line up of Henson,Harris,Sanders and couple decent guards… U G H. Harris has talent, he will prove to be a great move on Orlando’s part!

So…we move forward, try to forgive-forget front office. Not at all happy that we missed on Bledsoe-no real leverage, Redick leaving either way. Can Hammond use the two 2nd rounders to advantage? I think so-my biggest concern is a team that WANTS to lose. Thats a dangerous plan for a WEAK franchise like the BUCKS-and could easily backfire. DANGEROUS

How does this sound to you: “Ladies an Gentlemen, meet the starting line up for YOUR SEATTLE BUCKS”.

Greetings to you, happyfeethustle! I’m glad to have you and other good people on this site to bandy with back-and-forth for good, honest, upbeat debate. It’s educational; it’s sociable; it’s fun. Since we all make mistakes, it seems that we would all do well to not get carried away in the cases where we might be right.
God bless!